Talking Heads- Classic or Dud?

Half of the greater Ottawa area is probably described by "Don't Worry About the Government".xp

We had a long convo about The Big Country lyric a few years back (maybe on this thread)

I just don't think that this kind of satirical lyric:

Check out Mr. Businessman
He bought some wild, wild life
On the way to the stock exchange

reads as sufficiently critical these days; now we'd have to know the content of Mr. Businessman's investment portfolio and who was exploited to get that wealth.
I'm not saying that Byrne was naive about these things at the time, but this Mr. Normal character appears again in his Talking Heads lyrics (and persona?), and it reads differently now.

Same with Ray Davies.

"Don't Worry" isn't about conservative ideologues; it's about content suburbanites and civil servants, whom I see everyday.

Also, Doug Ford p much ran without a platform (other than "buck a beer") in the only election he has won so far!xps

xxxxxposts

The only song on Naked I'd bin wasn't on the original LP anyway, and it kind of sounds like a B-side ("Bill"). I love both sides of the record equally, if differently. "Mummy Daddy" is a nice thematic sequel to the "middle America" era. Seriously, just reminding myself of these songs, they're so great lyrically - to say nothing of the arrangements and musicianship involved.

Yes, "Cool Water" is really a stunning (as in, it stuns you in your tracks) final song. Although "Sax + Violins" is a marvel as well.*

*Does anyone know why there are only Byrne and Harrison in Wenders' "S+V" video? At the time I thought it had to be some conceptual sh*t I couldn't quite get, but it could have also been the Byrne vs Tina+Chris rift kicking in heavily by that time.

I loved "Make Believe Mambo" and the Rei Momo era as well. I liked Uh-oh well enough (the heavy-rotated singles/videos were absolutely rad) but the keyboards on it are often preset-cheesy. That album seemed to me like a retreat'n'regroup album after the previous one.

My favourite solo Byrne albums/eras are the eponymous one from 1994 and, probably even more, the follow-up, Feelings (1997). Both albums are, to me, prime examples of a middle-aged artist tapping into the zeitgeist as successfully as 'Outside'/'Earthling'-era Bowie did. And both tours were awesome - musically, and the Feeling one conceptually as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUiUx4c6Imk

The version of "Help Me Somebody" on that Sessions at W 54th video is incredible. Byrne does the preacher's voice.

my take on byrne is that his cool detachment brought out out and celebrated e a hyper-real version of the american striver, which jibes with the band's success and the 80s generally. i think there's less criticism going on in what he did than i used to.

and honestly i don't feel the need to go back to talking heads and haven't for a few years, not enough alterity for me in what they did.

See, I don't hear detachment, cool or otherwise, in his early shrill punctuative vocals -- I hear deep anxiety.

affected or not, doesn't change things

yeah I immediately thought of "Cities"

Sometimes, he's a little freaked out.

also, in my judgment, detachment is the posture of the defeated, not the winners.

Meantime, literally on Twitter just now

EVERY MEMBER OF THE TALKING HEADS, AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER: (doing cocaine) there should be a little rap part here.

— Patrick Cosmos (@veryimportant) June 25, 2021

I think he (sincerely) engaged with yuppie tropes using various degrees of irony and subtlety, in a way that probably wouldn't go over in today's just-tell-me-what-I-want-to-hear climate.

i like him in the true stories movie for some reason but find him insufferable in most other contexts.

Very, very interesting points, morrisp, Alfred, and esp. L+J Rocco's "American striver" hint.
Also the discussion re: 'The Big Country' more above.

nothing says brazen truth telling like engaging in yuppie tropes during the reagan years

with irony and subtlety to boot

Exactly my point—I don’t think he was going for “brazen truth-telling.” Lots of other bands were for those who wanted it, though.

The thing that always confuses me about "The Big Country" is it seems to describe a functioning farm-to-table relationship between local farms, grocery stores and consumers that definitely doesn't exist in the middle of the country now; did it exist in 1978?

I think he's idealizing. The character is a city guy who doesn't really know how it works; his thoughts are drifting as he looks out the airplane window.

I also think Byrne really like(d) the idea of smoothly functioning industrial processes, daily routines, etc.

(as artists often do)

I can't listen to Strange Ritual without pondering the Byrne/scat rumour

Don't know about that one, but there was a very brief-lasting rumor in the Italian press when Feelings came out that he'd been dating Kate Bush - never substantiated and quickly gone. My guess is that happened on account of the b/vox on "Wicked Little Doll" uncannily sounding like Kate.

Can we discuss the awesomeness of Weymouth's bass line on the live "Born Under Punches."

dude.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO7N2tFb0X8

That was absolutely insane!

dude.

📹

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR8jgFGmqvU

I'm sure this has been discussed before but I wish that whole Rome show was available as an official release. Absolutely insane.

The whole band are on FIRE. Belew is demonic.

Busta + Weymouth play the solo. I can't separate them.

i used to figure the odds were pretty good that they were sitting on it for an eventual release, but i'm less certain now, feels like the moment may have passed

So Busta plays the solo. Cool.

iirc one of them was asked about releasing the rome show once but they said there was some rights issue that meant it wasn't a possibility? but i'm not certain about that

practically in tears watching that video. incredible

They were/are all so great.

Tina, Busta, Scales? It's not like we need to be stingy about praise. It's not zero-sum.

This show is from the same tour. More vivid color vs the washed out look of the Rome show. Think the music was better in Rome. Anyway in case you want another version...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQo1YK3I0BY

hell yeah

weird how little screen time Weymouth, Frantz and Harrison get - it's essentially Byrne, Belew, Jones, Scales, McDonald for 80% of the time. I love that old weirdo YouTube stabilising algorithm though.

Well, I hear you Matt but I suspect the true fans know.

I mean

I met somebody over the summer who was going to see David Byrne’s show on Broadway who told me Talking Heads was one of her favorite bands. I asked her if she had read Chris Frantz’s book and she said “Who?” /TrueStory

ouch :(

anyway, that Rome show was the reason I got an external DVDRW hard drive in 2003 - because I couldn't save the torrented files to a CDR. absolutely essential.

Probably a bland/untutored comment but to go back to the original comments about Tina on that clip: I'm not used to seeing her play with a pick - is that a rare move or have I just not been paying attention?

she uses both techniques regularly, depending on the song